What is the difference between hardwoods and softwoods?

Simply, a softwood is a tree that bears cones. Hardwood is a tree that bears flowers, irrespective of hardness [1]. In Australia, this group includes eucalypts, wattles (acacias) and most rainforest species.

What is the size of Australia's forests?

The most recent inventory (1997) of the forest estate shows that Australia has a total forest area of more than 157 million hectares, made up of about 156 million hectares of native forests and just over one million hectares of plantations. With a land area of 769 million hectares, this means that about 20 per cent of the continent is forested [3].

Of the 156 million hectares of total native forests in Australia, about 98% is hardwood.

Of the one million hectares of forest plantations, 16% is in Queensland. There are nearly 0.9 million hectares of softwood plantations, representing over 85 per cent of the plantation estate [3].

This means that less than 15% of the Australian plantation forest is hardwood.

However, more hardwood plantations are now being planned. A reason is that large areas of native forest in S.E.Queensland have been removed from timber production over the past decade, including Fraser Island, Cooloola and parts of the Conondales. These have become World Heritage listed or National Parks and consequently the Crown hardwood supplies in the region have almost halved [4].

Another reason that hardwood plantations are being established is the announcement by the Queensland Government to phase-out timber harvesting in Crown native forests in south-east Queensland by 2025. To meet future timber demands there are initiatives on private and State-owned land to establish substantial hardwood plantations [1].

In 1997, only 0.1% of Australia's hardwood plantation timber was grown in Queensland [3].

In 1994/95, Queensland produced 201,000 cubic metres of hardwood, out of a total of 659,000 cubic metres of Queensland produced timber. (Click here to see the graph - copyright Queensland DPI). This hardwood is produced from selective harvesting of Queensland native forests (to be phased out by 2025). As stated, this is why considerable resources are going into establishing Queensland hardwood plantations - to establish sustainable resources [2].

For a map showing the locations of Australia's forests, by type, follow this link [3].
(Note: 63 kbyte file, Copyright NFI: URL http://www.brs.gov.au/nfi/forestinfo/forestypes.html)

Australian hardwood popularity

Australian species of hardwood are the most commonly used plantation hardwoods in the world. It is estimated that there are 5 million hectares of eucalypt plantations in Brazil, South Africa, Spain and Portugal. Australia has only 125,000 hectares of hardwood plantations. (1992-93 figures) [5]. The CSIRO estimates that 80% of the world's tropical forestry developments are of species of Australian origin (eucalypts, acacias and casuarinas).

The most important single genus of trees in Australia from an economic viewpoint are the Eucalypts (gums). They belong to the myrtle family and Eucalyptus genus (Greek eu, well; calyptos, covered). They are the second largest Australian genus, with over 600 species. All but 8 species occur only in Australia. Their fruit is a woody capsule (gumnut).

Queensland hardwood species of economic importance:

All of Queensland's commercially important hardwood timbers are native eucalypts (no exotic species are commercially grown). Many rainforest species have been used commercially in the past, also.

Hardwood trees with known potential for plantations in Queensland include Gympie messmate (Eucalyptus cloeziana), blackbutt (Eucalyptus pilularis), rose gum (Eucalyptus grandis), and spotted gum (also called lemon scented gum) (Corymbia citriodora) [1], [2] .

More Online Information

For information about the Gympie messmate hardwood plantation at Pomona, Queensland Australia, follow this link [4].

Next >> Queensland hardwood properties

Glossary

carbon sequestration: Carbon dioxide gas is removed from the atmosphere and stored (sequestered) by growing trees.

exotic: From another part of the world; foreign.

genus: (Biology). A classification of plants or animals. A genus is the main subdivision of a family and includes one or more species exhibiting similar characteristics.

heartwood: the hard wood at the core of a tree trunk.

native: An animal or a plant that originated in a particular place or region.

plantation: A large group of cultivated trees or plants.

sapwood: In a woody plant, the softer part of the wood between the inner bark and the heartwood, and is usually lighter in color and more active in water conduction than the heartwood.

Citations

[1] Queensland (Australia) Department of Natural Resources (DNR) (1999, November). Plantation Forests [Portable document format]. URL http://www.dnr.qld.gov.au/fact_sheets/pdf_files/F09.pdf

[2] Queensland Forestry Research Institute (Queensland Department of Primary Industries) (2000, October). Hardwoods Queensland [WWW Document] URL http://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/forestry/gettingresults/products.html

[3] NFI (National Forest Inventory) (1998). National Forest Inventory Australia: Plantation Estates [WWW Document] URL http://www.brs.gov.au/nfi/forestinfo/plantation.html

[4] Queensland DPI Forestry and Department of Natural Resources (1994, August). Between the Leaves (The DPI Forestry and Department of Natural Resources Journal) ["Moving Towards Hardwood Plantations"] [WWW Document] URL http://www.forests.qld.gov.au/educat/btl/hardwood.htm

[5] Rainforest Information Centre (RIC) (1999, December) RIC Good Wood Guide ["Australian Grown Plantation Timber Species"] [WWW Document] URL http://forests.org/ric/good_wood/ (visited January, 2001).

Copyright D. L. Christiansen [Last updated February 2001] Images: respective copyright owners noted/cited.

Return to Materials Technology - WOOD